DECEMBER 24, 2007
Posted January 14, 2008
Capucine Henry, Constantin Simon, France 24
DETAINED
Henry and Simon, reporter and cameraman for the news channel France 24, were detained by soldiers on December 24 after filming an army checkpoint, and released two days later, according to international news reports. The journalists were traveling with a Tamil family in the southern district of Galle, 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the capital, Colombo. The family and the driver and conductor of the minivan they were traveling in were also detained, according to the local press freedom group Free Media Movement (FMM).
Henry and Simon were reporting on ethnic Tamils in detention and were following the family on a visit to relatives held in Boossa camp near the checkpoint, FMM said. It quoted a police source saying the case was being investigated by the Terrorist Investigation Division.
The journalists’ failure to register with authorities in Colombo was also cited as a reason for their detention, according to news reports. Henry is a France 24 correspondent based in New Delhi.